Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I fully understand that but the problem I have is that on this elective hospital issue, it has taken ten months. The decision had been made that we need it but the two Departments have not signed off on it. We have not even gone to planning stage or started that process. Why does it take ten months to come to a decision where everyone already accepts that we need to build this hospital and in the meantime, a huge cost has been added on to it. It is likewise with school and housing projects. It is about the time from when the local authorities make a submission to the Department to getting the response back from the Department.

If one takes the Glashaboy flood relief scheme in my own constituency, the tender was submitted but in the time the Department took to accept the tender, the price had gone through the roof because there was too much of a delay in accepting the tender that had been submitted. In planning permission, a decision has to be given within a certain number of weeks. We do not seem to have the same timeframe in respect of tenders. When a tender comes in, is there a timeframe within a Department at the moment by which a decision must be made as regards who is awarded the project?